Lee Gutkind

Lee Gutkind is an American writer, speaker, and literary innovator.

Gutkind is the founder of the literary magazine Creative Nonfiction and the author or editor of over a dozen books. He started the first ever MFA program in creative nonfiction at the University of Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh. Currently, he is the Distinguished Writer in Residence at the School for the Future of Innovation in Society and Professor in the Hugh Downs School of Human Communication at Arizona State University.

Early life

Gutkind was born in 1945 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and educated at the University of Pittsburgh. Formally a motorcyclist, a medical insider, a sailor, a college professor, a mid-life father and a literary whipping boy, Lee Gutkind was an unlikely success, as he explained in his previous book, Forever Fat: Essays by the Godfather. His upcoming book, entitled, Truckin’ with Sam: A Father and Son, The Mick and The Dyl, Rockin’ and Rollin’, On the Road, is a follow-up to his memoir Forever Fat. His immersion experiences into the motorcycle subculture, the organ transplant milieu, baseball umpires and in other heretofore un-mined worlds about which he has written books, along with the literary techniques he has developed, has helped to create a new paradigm for writing about the world — the “literature of reality” that is creative nonfiction.

Gutkind is founder and editor of the journal Creative Nonfiction, the first and largest literary journal devoted to creative nonfiction. He is also editor of Best Creative Nonfiction, an annual anthology of creative nonfiction. Gutkind is author of Keep It Real: Everything You Need to Know About Researching and Writing Creative Nonfiction. Gutkind has written 15 books, and edited 18 collections and volumes. In celebration of his impact on the genre, In Fact: The Best of Creative Nonfiction, was published in 2004 by W.W. Norton. Book List called In Fact “an electrifying anthology . . . an exciting and defining creative nonfiction primer.”

Vanity Fair Magazine proclaimed Gutkind “the Godfather” behind the creative nonfiction movement, and Harper’s Magazine noted that he is “the leading figure behind the creative nonfiction movement.”

Career

Lee Gutkind’s books have been praised for being simultaneously personal and universally informative. His award-winning Many Sleepless Nights, an inside chronicle of the world of organ transplantation, has been reprinted in Italian, Korean and Japanese editions. An Unspoken Art, a profile of veterinary medicine, was a Book-of-the-Month Club selection. His book about major league umpires, The Best Seat In Baseball, But You Have to Stand!, was called by USA Today "unprecedented, revealing, startling and poignant."

Gutkind frequently crosses genres as a writer, editor and reporter. He is a published novelist, an award-winning documentary filmmaker, and served as a consulting editor at National Public Radio in Washington, D.C. teaching narrative techniques to reporters, producers and editors on the Science Desk. Also as the former director of the writing program at the University of Pittsburgh, Lee Gutkind pioneered the teaching of creative nonfiction, conducting workshops and presenting readings throughout the United States, Europe, Australia and Israel.

Gutkind founded the creative nonfiction program and MFA degree at the University of Pittsburgh, the first in the world. He helped found the low residency MFA program in creative nonfiction at Goucher College, and was director of the Mid-Atlantic Creative Nonfiction Writers’ Conference at Goucher for 11 years. He was the director and founder of the 412 Creative Nonfiction Literary Festival for four years, a citywide literary event that provides professional development to students and city residents and fosters the strength of the local writing community. Gutkind also served as the Virginia G. Piper Distinguished Writer in Residence at Arizona State University in 2007-2008.

Awards

Lee Gutkind's list of honorary achievements include: The Steve Allan Individual Award, by United Mental Health, Inc; Chancellor's Award for Public Service; Meritorious Service Award by American Council on Transplantation; Howard Blakeslee Award by the American Heart Association for "outstanding journalism; Golden Eagle Award by CINE, for the film, A Place Just Right; Recipient of National Endowment of the Arts Creative Writing Fellowship. In 2004, Gutkind was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Letters from Chatham College.

Books

Written by Lee

Title	Description	Publisher	Year	ISBN
You Can't Make This Stuff Up	A writer's guide to reading & writing creative nonfiction.	Da Capo Lifelong Books	2012	ISBN 978-0-7382-1554-9
Truckin' with Sam	A memoir chronicling several years of Gutkind's experiences traveling across the United States and the world with his son Sam, who appears later in the book as a co-author.	State University of New York Press	2010	ISBN 978-1-4384-3259-5
Almost Human: Making Robots Think	Documents four years of observation at the Carnegie-Mellon University Robotics Institute, as they imagine, design, build, and test robots. Some scenes also take place at NASA and in the Atacama Desert in Chile.	W. W. Norton	2007	ISBN 978-0-393-05867-3
Forever Fat: Essays by the Godfather	A memoir.	University of Nebraska Press	2004	ISBN 0-8032-2194-0
The Best Seat in Baseball, But You Have to Stand: The Game as Umpires See It	A reprint of the original 1973 book from Dial Press.	University of Southern Illinois Press	1999	ISBN 978-0-8093-2195-7
The Veterinarian's Touch: Profiles of Life Among the Animals	Various profiles of veterinarians.	Owl Books	1998	ISBN 978-0-8050-5811-6
The Art of Creative Nonfiction: The Literature of Reality	A writer's guide to the craft of creative nonfiction.	John Wiley & Sons	1996	ISBN 0-471-11356-5
Creative Nonfiction: How to Live it and Write It	A guide to teach young writers how to use creative nonfiction	Chicago Review Press	1996	ISBN 1-55652-266-5
Stuck in Time: The Tragedy of Childhood Mental Illness	An examination of the American health care system.	Henry Holt and Company	1994	ISBN 0-8050-1469-1
One Children's Place: Inside a Children's Hospital	An examination of the American health care system.	A Plume Book by Penguin	1992	ISBN 978-0-452-26687-2
Many Sleepless Nights: The World of Organ Transplantation	An inside look at the world of organ transplantation.	W. W. Norton & Co.	1990	ISBN 978-0-8229-5905-2
The People of Penn's Woods West	Essays about rural America.	University of Pittsburgh Press	1984	ISBN 978-0-8229-5360-9
God's Helicopter	A novel.	Slow Loris Press	1983	ISBN 978-0-941038-09-6
The Best Seat in Baseball, But You Have to Stand: The Game As Umpires See It	An inside look at the life of major league umpires.	Dial Press	1975	ISBN 978-0-8093-2195-7
Bike Fever: An Examination of the Motorcycle Subculture	Lee's first book.	Avon Books, Inc.	1974	ISBN 978-0-695-80380-3

Edited by Lee

Title	Description	Publisher	Year	ISBN
Twelve Breaths a Minute: End of Life Essays	Twenty-three original, personal narratives that examine the way we as a society care for the dying.	Southern Methodist University Press	2011	ISBN 978-0-87074-571-3
Becoming a Doctor: From Student to Specialist, Doctor-Writers Share Their Experiences	(CNF description) Physicians recount personal stories from their lives in white coats in this inspired anthology by new and known writers. These original stories reveal the inner lives of the men and women who are often rendered invisible by their white coats.	W.W. Norton	2010	ISBN 978-0-393-33455-5
The Best Creative Nonfiction, Vol. 3	A third special issue of Creative Nonfiction that features twenty-five essays that originally appeared in alternative publications, blogs, literary journals, and other publications.	W.W. Norton	2009	ISBN 978-0-393-33025-0
The Best Creative Nonfiction, Vol. 2	A second special issue of Creative Nonfiction that features twenty-nine essays that originally appeared in alternative publications, blogs, literary journals, and other publications.	W.W. Norton	2008	ISBN 978-0-393-33024-3
Anatomy of Baseball	Twenty new and classic essays about the American past time.	SMU Press	2008	ISBN 978-0-87074-522-5
Keep It Real: Everything You Need to Know About Researching and Writing Creative Nonfiction	Provides writers with the working parameters of the creative nonfiction genre	W.W. Norton	2008	ISBN 978-0-393-06561-9
Silence Kills: Speaking Out and Saving Lives	Twelve new essays written by physicians, patients, and family members. Explores the communication breakdown in the current American health care system	SMU Press	2007	ISBN 978-0-87074-518-8
The Best Creative Nonfiction, Vol. 1	A special issue of Creative Nonfiction that features twenty-seven essays that originally appeared in alternative publications, blogs, literary journals, and other publications.	W.W. Norton	2007	ISBN 978-0-393-33003-8
Hurricanes and Carnivals: Essays by Chicanos, Pochos, Pachucos, Mexicanos, and Expatriates	Originally published as Issue 23 of Creative Nonfiction, this book features fifteen essays that push the boundaries between fact and fiction.	The University of Arizona Press	2007	ISBN 978-0-8165-2625-3
Our Roots are Deep with Passion: `Creative Nonfiction` Collects New Essays by Italian American Writers	Twenty-one essays written by established and emerging writers that explore the unique intersections of language, tradition, cuisine, and culture that characterize the diverse experience of Americans of Italian heritage.	Other Press	2006	ISBN 978-1-59051-242-5
Rage & Reconciliation: Inspiring a Health Care Revolution	Originally published as issue 21 of Creative Nonfiction, the book includes new essays and an 80- minute CD containing three essays read by professional actors and a panel discussion of the ethical dimensions of the issues raised. Produced in conjunction with Pittsburgh's Jewish Healthcare Foundation, writers tackle health care in America, including problems of patient rights and professional responsibility.	SMU Press	2005	ISBN 0-87074-503-4
In Fact: The Best of Creative Nonfiction	Twenty-five essays, all originally appearing in Creative Nonfiction, republished in honor of the journal's tenth anniversary.	W.W. Norton	2005	ISBN 0-393-32665-9
On Nature: Great Writers on the Great Outdoors	Twenty original and previously published essays	Jeremy P. Tarcher	2002	ISBN 1-58542-173-1
Healing: 20 Prominent Authors Write About Inspirational Moments of Achieving Health and Gaining Insight	Twenty original and previously published essays	Jeremy P. Tarcher	2001	ISBN 1-58542-079-4
Lessons in Persuasion: Creative Nonfiction/Pittsburgh Connections	Eighteen essays written by writers with ties to the city of Pittsburgh.	University of Pittsburgh Press	2000	ISBN 0-8229-5715-9
Connecting: Twenty Prominent Authors Write About the Relationships That Shape Our Lives	Twenty original and previously published essays	Jeremy P. Tarcher/Putnam	1998	ISBN 0-87477-904-9
A View from the Divide: Creative Nonfiction on Health and Science	Seventeen essays that attempt to demonstrate the many ways in which aspects of the scientific world—from biology, medicine, physics, and astronomy--can be captured and dramatized for a humanities-oriented readership.	University of Pittsburgh Press	1998	ISBN 978-0-8229-5685-3

Sources

Other major sources used in this article but not (always) in-line cited:

• Lee Gutkind's Website
• Contemporary Authors Online. The Gale Group, 2007. PEN (Permanent Entry Number): 0000040630.

External links

• Lee Gutkind's Website
• The Creative Nonfiction Website
• Almost Human Website